Kaito Kumon
is one of the main characters in the 24th installment of the Kamen Rider Series, Kamen Rider Gaim. He is the former leader of Team Baron, Team Gaim's rival until he chose Zack as his successor, and gave him a mass production Sengoku Driver as a parting gift. Growing up poor, he always believed that the weak warriors are exploited after Yggdrasill took everything from his life. After watching Gaim battle the Shika Inves, he received a Sengoku Driver as well and a Banana Lockseed from Sid, which allows him to transform into . In Sengoku Movie Battle he was named , but dropped it after Bujin Gaim's defeat. History Early Life Kaito is the son of a construction worker. When businessmen from Yggdrasill Corporation shut down his father's company; Kaito and his family became poor, thus he had a vendetta against Yggdrasill and sought the power to destroy the company. In 2011, he formed a dance team called Team Baron with Zack and Peco. Beat Riders Saga As Team Gaim started to get popular with Kouta Kazuraba's possession of the Sengoku Driver, he finds himself with Sid, obtaining his own Sengoku Driver along with the Banana Lockseed. By accepting this new profound power, he also obtains the Lock Vehicle: Rose Attacker. Once realizing that plucking the fruits from the forest grants him an Lockseed, he creates his own alliance with Hideyasu Jonouchi and and Ryoji Hase, providing them with Lockseeds of his own. However, the alliance is shortlived and he is defeated by Gaim Strawberry Arms and Ryugen and is then ganged up by the new Armored Riders: Gridon and Kurokage. Thankfully, Gaim and Ryugen intervenes, defeating the two Armored Riders. Later, Kaito is defeated by Oren, who stole Team Red Hot's Sengoku Driver. Kaito, striving to become stronger formulates that his Banana Lockseed is the most well-rounded for offense and defense. It isn't until he protects Mai and later sees Kouta utilizing his Pine Arms to gain an advantage against a rampant Inves does Kaito switch out his Banana Lockseed for the Mango Lockseed. To his shock, Mango Arms provides major strengths and easily defeats the Inves with Pine Arms Gaim. During a brand new Inves Game devised by Mitsuzane and Kouta, Kaito is easily eliminated along with Oren by the White Armored Rider (Takatora) and is taken out of the forest. Yggdrasill Saga With the Beat Riders named slandered, Kaito challenges Oren, who is publicy criticizing the Beat Riders, however Peco is injured and Kaito swears on his name to settle things the next time they see each other. When Kouta struggles against Oren, Kaito comes to his aid creating a temporary alliance with Gaim donning the Banana Arms alongside Baron donning the Mango Arms. After defeating Oren, the two see a rampant Inves being destroyed with relative ease by Zangetsu Shin (Takatora). Kaito provides support for Kouta as he runs to help Hase, who is turned into an Inves. Kaito is easily defeated by Takatora. Later while meeting Ryoma Sengoku, he realizes that they were merely guinea pigs for the Sengoku Driver. Kaito, later in an attempt to challenge Yggdrasill's power, joins Kouta into sneaking into the forest and dons the Suika Arms against New Generation Rider Sigurd. However, Kaito is later intercepted by Sigurd as he passes through the crack into the Yggdrasill Headquarters. Helheim Saga & Over Lord Saga Kaito reveals his ideals stating that humanity is weak and that only the strong should survive. He unintentionally joins Ryoma's faction as he becomes the test subject while trying to find the Red Over Lord, Demushu while trying to understand Yggdrasill's motives. Once finding Demushu, he realizes that he is outclassed by the Over Lord, struggling extremely in Banana Arms. While in Mango Arms, his decreased mobility proves to be his downfall as Demushu rapidly attacks him, bringing Kaito down to his knees. After being saved from Yoko, he finds himself bestowed with a gift from Ryoma Sengoku: a Genesis Driver and a Lemon Energy Lockseed. Now able to combat Demushu on equal terms, Kaito is stopped by Gaim. However, Gaim is shot by Ryugen, who now holds a strong sense of animosity towards Kouta. However, despite Kaito finding Kouta a nuisance, he finds that Mitsuzane is an enemy for being a sneak, attacking a man from the back. He later puts Kouta in a tree and camouflages him so that he doesn't attract any wild Inves. Kaito, realizing Mitsuzane's deception, aids Kouta as the two battle Zangetsu Shin (Mitsuzane in disguise). Despite Kaito's attempts to warn Kouta of Mitsuzane's betrayal, the latter is completely oblivious to it. In an attempt to find the Over Lords, Kaito fights Sid, both trading blows before Sid runs away. Together with Kouta, they fight Sid, Zangetsu Shin, and Demushu. However, Demushu escapes, forcing Kaito and Kouta to enter Zawame City to stop the Over Lord's rampage. Separated from his Genesis Driver, Kaito watches to his horror that Yggdrasill is attacking Kouta, critically injuring him. Kaito, disgusted at Yggdrasill's tactics, leaves the rest of the Kurokage Troopers and Marika to die. When asked why Kaito cares so much about strength, he reveals that it is because he's one of the weak who grasps to be stronger, the one who grasps power in order to stop oppressors and stand up against them. Kaito returns to the battlefield with Zack against the Over Lord. Even though Demushu is over powered by the two riders, Marika and the Kurokage troopers interfered, so the Over Lord took the opportunity to escape. Later, Kaito and Zack aid Marika in battling the Inves that are invading the city. They are soon joined by Bravo and Gridon. Even though battling the Inves was a success, the evolved Demushu arrives and overpowers them all. Just when he was about to finish them, Kouta shows up and transform into Kiwami Arms. The Riders watched as Gaim defeated the Over Lord with his new power. Later at Team Gaim's meeting place, Kaito and others agree to evacuate the citizens of Zawame City to a new place and contact each other with the communication devices Yoko suggested. After fighting an Inves, Kaito communicates with Mai and encourage her to dance as a way to show her power, and that one day people will return to the City before heading to a Crack. Personality Cold, Kaito believes firmly in the doctrine of "the survival of the fittest", thinking that the weak should perish for the strong. This however doesn't mean that he views himself as one of the strong, he actually views himself as one of the weak and that it's imperative for the weak to grasp for power because it stops the strong from looking down and attacking the weak. Much like Kouta, Kaito doesn't want power just because it's power, it's how the power is used separating Kaito from having the same mindset as Demushu. Despite his ruthless personality, he has a soft spot towards kids and humanity, and the safety and care of his teammates, such as what happened when Bravo's weapon hits the stage sign and had Peco's arm broken. When he realized that premature Lockseeds mutate humans, such as when Hase eats it and turned into Inves, he shows a more human side by preventing Zangetsu-Shin from killing the mutated Hase. He also quits Team Baron and left Zack (now Kamen Rider Knuckle) in charge as he didn't want his teammates to get hurt due to him being an Armored Rider and being hunted by Yggdrasill. Kaito also does care for his rival, Kouta. While Kaito claims that he doesn't care about Kouta, he does respect his strength and values him as an ally. Kaito risks his life numerous times to aid him during fights such as fighting against the Seiryu Inves, working together with Kouta against Bravo, covering Kouta while being decoy against Zangetsu Shin, becoming a decoy once again while fighting Kurokage Troopers, covering Kouta again and having a showdown with Sigurd, protecting Kouta from a deadly trap against Zangetsu Shin II, and takes a deadly shot meant for Kouta by Demushu. Unlike his teammates in Team Baron, he dislikes cheating and dirty tricks as he likes to win fair and square, knowing the risks of out of control Inves and how it could endanger humanity, especially if the Inves are in a higher class states. After Kamen Rider Gaim defeated Raid Wild's Ryoji in Inves Game, Kaito became aware that the Rider doesn't know how to use the Sengoku Driver properly. For stating that his foolishness is far more than Kaito's. After obtaining the Lockseeds from Helheim Forest, he has a respect on a previous winning with teams like Raid Wild and Invitto such as giving them Lockseeds (except for Mango as his safe-keep) with no hard feelings. During his encounter with Bravo/Oren, Kaito is honored by Oren as a worthy opponent with a fighting spirit. Later, it was revealed that after Yggdrasill Corporation shut down his father's construction company, Kaito held a grudge against them and wanted to find the power to get back at them which made him who he is in the present. Arms As with the other Armored Riders, Kamen Rider Baron's forms are called . With the exception of Lemon Energy Arms, all of his European Knight-themed Arms' helmets share the title , while his visors share the title . Kamen Rider Baron's ending theme is entitled "Never Surrender". - Armored Rider= *'Height': 208 cm. *'Weight': 114 kg. (251 lbs.) Ability Perimeters: *'Punching power': 8.8 t. *'Kicking power': 12.4 t. *'Maximum jump height': 24 m. *'Maximum running speed': 100 m. per 6.1 sec. is Baron's default banana-based armored European Knight form. Accessed through the Banana Lockseed, this form's Arms Weapon is the Banaspear, while the helmet Baron wears is the with the visor. This form debuts in episode 3. This form is Baron's most balanced form. In this form, Baron's punching and kicking power is more stronger than Gaim's. However as a tradeoff, Baron's maximum height and running speed is lower than Gaim's, making him able to jump a little higher than Gaim in Pine Arms and barely able to outrun Gaim in Pine Arms. This Arms' finisher is the , which has three variations depending on which function Baron activates from his Sengoku Driver. *Squash: Baron releases a spear-shaped beam of energy from the Banaspear to thrust at the enemy. *Au Lait: Baron smashes down his enemy with a giant banana-shaped energy projection from the Banaspear. When stabbed into the ground, however, the energy travels along the ground for a bit before rocketing back up in the familiar banana-shaped projecting, skewering whatever is in its path. *Sparking: Baron stabs the Banaspear into the ground, creating multiple banana-shaped projections which hit an opponent several times from below. This also provides as a defensive wall against incoming attacks. Appearances: Episodes 3-8, Sengoku Movie Battle, 10-16, 18-19, 21, 23, ToQger Vs. Gaim, Kamen Rider Taisen - Mango= Mango Arms *'Height': 208 cm. *'Weight': 114 kg. (251 lbs.) Ability Perimeters: *'Punching power': 10 t. *'Kicking power': 12.4 t. *'Maximum jump height': 22 m. *'Maximum running speed': 100 m. per 6.5 sec. is Baron's mango-based armored European Knight form. Accessed through the Mango Lockseed, this form's Arms Weapon is the Mango Punisher, while the helmet Baron wears is the with the visor. This form debuts in episode 8. In this form, Baron gains a boost in punching power, nearly punching as hard as Zangetsu, but his kicking power retains the same strength. In trade-off, Mango Arms can jump just as high as Gaim in Pine Arms, and is just as fast. This Arms' finisher is the , which has three variations depending on which function Baron activates from his Sengoku Driver. *Squash: Baron swings the Mango Punisher, sending a projection of the Mango Punisher's head at the target. *Au Lait: Baron swings the Mango Punisher around multiple times, growing in intensity, until he stops, making a giant projection of the Mango Punisher's head fire from the mace and slams into the target from an aerial angle. *Sparking: Baron performs a powerful swing, sending a giant projection of the Mango Punisher's head straight at the target. Appearances: Episodes 8, Sengoku Movie Battle, 11, 13, 23, ToQger Vs. Gaim, Kamen Rider Taisen, 24 }} - Other Arms= is Baron's strawberry-based armored Japanese Ninja form. Accessed through the Ichigo Lockseed, this form's Arms Weapon is the Ichigo Kunai, while the helmet Baron wears is the with the visor. In Kamen Rider Battle: Ganbarizing, it is locked to a special Baron Banana Arms Ganbarizing Card. - Suika= Suika Arms *'Height': 311 cm. *'Weight': 523 kg. (1,153 lbs.) Ability Perimeters: *'Punching power': 33.2 t. *'Kicking power': 51.8 t. *'Maximum jump height': 3 m. *'Maximum running speed': 100 m. per 9.8 sec. is Baron's colossal mecha-like watermelon-based armored Japanese Samurai form. Accessed through the Suika Lockseed, this form's Arms Weapon is a lance with the blade resembling a chunk of watermelon, reminiscent of Baron's Banaspear, while the helmet Baron wears is the . This form debuts in episode 19. This form can interchange into three modes. * : Suika Arms' warrior mode, which equips Baron with its lance weapon for combat. * : Suika Arms' watermelon mode, which encases Baron's entire body to use either for offensive/defensive purposes or as a mode of transportation. * : Suika Arms' flight mode, which allows Baron to fire seed-like bullets from the fingertips. Suika Arms is the most massive Arms Change so far, and it shows by having the most monstrous punching and kicking power once in Yoroi Mode. Consequentially, it also has the worst jumping height in all of Rider history, and any Rider can practically outrun it. Though this is rendered moot thanks to Gyro Mode. Also, after a utilization, the Suika Lockseed's color becomes black, indicating that its energy is low and needs time to recharge back to its green color before it can be used again. Appearances: Episode 19 - Kiwi= Kiwi Arms is Baron's kiwifruit-based armored Chinese Soldier form. Accessed through the Kiwi Lockseed, this form's Arms Weapon is the Kiwi Gekirin, while the helmet Baron wears is the with the visor. In Kamen Rider Battle: Ganbarizing, it is locked to a special Baron Mango Arms Ganbarizing Card. - Melon= Melon Arms is Baron's muskmelon-based armored Japanese Samurai form. Accessed through the Melon Lockseed, this form's Arms Weapon is the Melon Defender, while the helmet Baron wears is the with the visor. In Kamen Rider Battle: Ganbarizing, it is locked to a special Baron Banana Arms Ganbarizing Card. }} - Rider Arms= is a special form, based on Kamen Rider OOO's Tatoba Combo, exclusive to Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Gaim & Wizard: The Fateful Sengoku Movie Battle. Accessed through the OOO Lockseed, this form's Arms Weapon is the Medajalibur. - Wizard= Wizard Arms is Baron's Kamen Rider Wizard-based armored form. Accessed through the Wizard Lockseed, this form's Arms Weapon is the WizarSwordGun. In Kamen Rider Battle: Ganbarizing, it is locked to a special Baron Mango Arms Ganbarizing Card. }} }} - New Generation Rider= Lemon Energy Arms *'Height': 208 cm. *'Weight': 111 kg. (245 lbs.) Ability Perimeters: *'Punching power': 15.1 t. *'Kicking power': 18.3 t. *'Maximum jump height': 25 m. *'Maximum running speed': 100 m. per 5.9 sec. is Baron's lemon-based armored European Knight form. Accessed through the Lemon Energy Lockseed, this form's Arms Weapon is the Sonic Arrow, while the helmet Baron wears is the with the visor. This form debuts in episode 26. Lemon Energy Arms is a vast improvement for Baron, increasing his offensive power beyond what even Mango Arms can offer, with his agility stats being a tad bit better than Banana Arms, jumping as high as Gaim in a Jimber Arms, running as fast as Gaim in Orange Arms, Ryugen in Budou Arms, Bravo, and Knuckle. This Arms' finisher is an unnamed Rider Slash, which is activated via the Squash function on the Genesis Driver. Baron fuels all the energy from the Lemon Energy Lockseed into his body, which is then converted into his Sonic Arrow before he executes a 360 degree turn, slashing everything in that radius and forming Lemon slices on contact with the target. Alternatively, the Lemon Slices don't appear on contact if Baron doesn't siphon all the energy from the Lemon Energy Lockseed. Appearances: Episodes 26-29, 31-34 }} Equipment Devices *Transformation devices: **Sengoku Driver - Primary transformation device **Genesis Driver - Secondary transformation device *Arms Weapons: **Banaspear - Baron Banana Arms' personal weapon **Mango Punisher - Baron Mango Arms' personal weapon **Unnamed lance - Baron Suika Arms' personal weapon in Yoroi Mode **Sonic Arrow - Baron Lemon Energy Arms' personal weapon **Medajalibur - Baron OOO Arms' personal weapon **Ichigo Kunai - Baron Ichigo Arms' personal weapons **Kiwi Gekirin - Baron Kiwi Arms' personal weapons **Melon Defender - Baron Melon Arms' personal weapon *Lockseeds - Gives access to Baron's form changes, depending on which arm the lock is Vehicles *Rose Attacker - Kamen Rider Baron's main Rider Machine *Dandeliner - Kamen Rider Baron's second Rider Machine List of Appearances *''Kamen Rider Gaim'' **1-16, 18-29, 31- *''Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Gaim & Wizard: The Fateful Sengoku Movie Battle'' **''Kamen Rider Gaim: Sengoku Battle Royale'' **''Sengoku Movie Battle'' *''Heisei Rider vs. Showa Rider: Kamen Rider Taisen feat. Super Sentai'' **''Ressha Sentai ToQger Vs. Kamen Rider Gaim Spring Vacation Combining Special'' *''Kamen Rider Gaim the Movie: The Great Soccer Match! The Golden Fruit Cup!'' Behind the Scenes Portrayal Kaito Kumon is portrayed by . As a child, Kaito is portrayed by . As Kamen Rider Baron, his suit actor is , who has been the suit actor for the majority of the Secondary Riders of the Neo-Heisei era (except Beast).Hobby Japan, November 2013 Notes *Baron being based on a banana might possibly be a reference to the phrase "Second Banana". *Baron's name and color-scheme is a reference to Manfred von Richthofen, a World War I German fighter pilot of the Imperial German Army Air Service whose alias is the Red Baron. *He is similar to Ren Akiyama from Kamen Rider Ryuki, as they both are Secondary Riders and have a European Knight motif. *He shares a name with a previous Anti-Hero Rider, Daiki Kaito. However, while he uses it as a first name, "Kaito" is Daiki's surname and they are written with different characters. **Ironically, this Kaito is the first Secondary Rider since the previous Kaito who does not make his first appearance in a Movie War film. *Baron currently has the earliest debut of a secondary Neo-Heisei Rider, first appearing in Episode 1, and then transforming in Episode 3. **While Zangetsu in Kamen Rider Gaim and Wiseman in Kamen Rider Wizard appear in the first episode of their respective series, they are not Secondary Riders, but are instead Extra Riders. *Kaito using the OOO Lockseed is a reference of his standby sound "Come On". In the Kamen Rider OOO series' opening Anything Goes!, with "Come On!" is a lyric placed right before the chorus hits. **Also, his desire for power reflected the personality of the first Kamen Rider OOO. *Kaito is the second Rider to change drivers, from the Sengoku Driver to the Genesis Driver. The first being Takatora Kureshima. **However, unlike Takatora, Kaito's Pre-Arms remains the same with both drivers. Whereas Takatora's Pre-Arms form changes drastically between both drivers. **Also, unlike Takatora, who changed his Rider name from Zangetsu to Zangetsu Shin upon acquiring the Genesis Driver, Kaito hasn't been called Baron Shin yet due to the fact that he didn't upgrade to a Banana Energy Lockseed. However, this new form is a Lemon, which is not an upgrade to his regular Banana Arms, because it is a new form altogether utilizing a different driver. *Baron obtaining Lemon Energy Arms was a late addition. He wasn't originally supposed to get a Genesis Driver, but the producers changed their minds over this due to Kaito's popularity. http://www.toei.co.jp/tv/gaimu/story/1203576_2163.html **Furthermore, its currently unknown how Kaito is still able to transform into Baron using the Genesis Driver instead of into Duke like Ryoma Sengoku. This could be assumed that each Genesis Driver has its own unique Pre-Arms suit. Another explanation is that Ryoma may have made some modifications on Kaito's Genesis Driver. *Baron using the Lemon Energy Lockseed is quite fitting, as Kaito "fights for power". *Kaito is the second (third if you count Kouta) Rider overall to use the Lemon Energy Lockseed. The first is Ryoma Sengoku, with Kamen Rider Duke's Lemon Energy Arms, while the second is Kouta for Kamen Rider Gaim's Jimber Lemon Arms. *Unlike Takatora, who abandoned his Sengoku Driver after receiving the Genesis Driver, Kaito still sometimes uses his Sengoku Driver after he got his Genesis Driver from Ryoma. * Kaito is the first New Generation Rider to activate the Squash function on a Genesis Driver, followed by Yoko Minato. * He is the first Armored Rider to use the Squash, Au Lait, and Sparking functions on his Sengoku Driver in a single form. specifically Banana Arms, followed by his former teammate Knuckle. ** He has also used all the finishers for his Mango Arms, as well as Lemon Energy Squash and the Lemon Energy Rider Shooting in the Sonic Arrow. Legend Rider Lockseeds *The following Legend Rider Lockseeds are styled for Baron, as well as Gridon: **Black RX - "Son of the Sun!" **Blade - "Sword of Spade!" **Kiva - "King of Vampire!" **OOO - "Tatoba, Ta~To~Ba!" ***OOO Tajadol Combo - "Ta~Ja, Ta~Ja~Dol!" **Ankh - "Happy Birth~Day!" References